Come All, Come Ye......indulge in a Fairy Tale....
Smiley was a sad dragon. At almost three, he could not spit out fire like his friends could. Soon he would have to go to school, and with no fire bellowing out, he dreaded the thought.
Lady Volcano, and Sir Spitfire had taken care of their egg judiciously. No accident had happened until the egg cracked, and Smiley popped out. They were credible dragons, with nor abnormalities in fire spitting or fire balls shooting or smoke bellowing. Hence they could not understand what ailed their offspring, Smiley - why did he not have fire?
On the first day of hot summer, Volcano marched Smiley to school, hoping that Smiley would become the normal dragon in school.
But alas!!! Months rolled by, all the young dragons were into developing fire balls with their fire emissions, but Smiley could only manage lots of smoke. Smiley had already become the butt of many jokes, and he hardly had any friends.
During parents-teacher meet, the Wise One specially met Smiley’s parents. He explained to the dejected parents that Smiley wasn’t “disabled” or “abnormal”, just that he was slow and dyslexic. Sometime in life, he would be able to emit fire. But the parents worried about his future. How could Smiley remain in the clan if he did not work with his fire emissions like the other dragons.
Wise One tried to explain that Smiley did not have Fire, but he had an extraordinary ability with Smoke. Somehow he could emit strong, thick smoke, unlike anyone else, and that in itself was unique.
Smiley was hearing all this from behind the tree, and after seeing his parents’ sad faces, he ran back to his special cubby hole near the river. He loved sitting there and emitting smoke. He could even make figures out of his smoke emissions. He loved doing that but somehow the school did not encourage it.
At their last semester in school, one fateful evening, the students heard strange noises nearby. The old teacher trembled, and whispered that Humans were approaching. Most of the adult dragons were away, and with only few old teachers, and a bunch of students, the Humans would easily overpower them.
They had heard tales of how humans with piercing weapons had captured many of their clan, and taken them away for their amusement. It was pathetic to be a captive to the Humans – they ensured that a dragon’s spirit is broken.
The teachers did not know what to do, the students were asked to camouflage themselves and stop breathing so that fire emissions did not give them away.
Nearer, and nearer came the Humans, further and further shrank the dragons. Until they had reached the river bank and there was no place to escape. Captivity seemed certain. Some of the students whispered that they would rather jump into the river and end their lives than be caught by the humans.
Suddenly Smiley stood up. His belly was burning, his head humming, his heart beat louder than a hundred drums. He just knew what he had to do. The teachers tried to stop him, but to no avail. Smiley rushed forward, and climbed up the little hillock. He could see the Humans, and that suited his purpose. He started emitting smoke. Thick, white smoke. Next came a wave of black, acrid smoke. Soon the place was invisible. Nothing could be seen or smelt, apart from the acridness of the smoke. Smiley felt he could go on doing this forever. Strange he thought how his belly was filled with fire, he could feel it, but his emissions were smoke…..smoke, oh beautiful smoke, saviour smoke.
After an eternity, Smiley dared to stop. Nothing moved, the entire place was deserted. Smiley gingerly hopped down the cliff, and crept to the river bank where all his friends were hiding. He felt some dragon figures, and lay down quietly by them. It was hours before the smoke lifted a little. The teachers cautiously started rounding up the shell shocked students.
No Human sounds were audible. Slowly the dragons made their way back to their homes. When they reached the den, they found all the anxious parents huddled, most of the mothers had red eyes.
And then suddenly hell broke loose, all were hugging Smiley at once, his school pals had already lifted him up, Wise One was struggling to make a speech, Volcano was smothering Smiley with loving saliva, Spitfire had his chest puffed out. The other adult dragons were tapping their feet and making a lot of din. Smiley had saved the clan, and that too without any fire, without any fight, just by his smoke.
Smiley just smiled at Wise One, and then created a halo smoke formation and sat quietly below it, looking pleased as a punch.
Lady Volcano, and Sir Spitfire had taken care of their egg judiciously. No accident had happened until the egg cracked, and Smiley popped out. They were credible dragons, with nor abnormalities in fire spitting or fire balls shooting or smoke bellowing. Hence they could not understand what ailed their offspring, Smiley - why did he not have fire?
On the first day of hot summer, Volcano marched Smiley to school, hoping that Smiley would become the normal dragon in school.
But alas!!! Months rolled by, all the young dragons were into developing fire balls with their fire emissions, but Smiley could only manage lots of smoke. Smiley had already become the butt of many jokes, and he hardly had any friends.
During parents-teacher meet, the Wise One specially met Smiley’s parents. He explained to the dejected parents that Smiley wasn’t “disabled” or “abnormal”, just that he was slow and dyslexic. Sometime in life, he would be able to emit fire. But the parents worried about his future. How could Smiley remain in the clan if he did not work with his fire emissions like the other dragons.
Wise One tried to explain that Smiley did not have Fire, but he had an extraordinary ability with Smoke. Somehow he could emit strong, thick smoke, unlike anyone else, and that in itself was unique.
Smiley was hearing all this from behind the tree, and after seeing his parents’ sad faces, he ran back to his special cubby hole near the river. He loved sitting there and emitting smoke. He could even make figures out of his smoke emissions. He loved doing that but somehow the school did not encourage it.
At their last semester in school, one fateful evening, the students heard strange noises nearby. The old teacher trembled, and whispered that Humans were approaching. Most of the adult dragons were away, and with only few old teachers, and a bunch of students, the Humans would easily overpower them.
They had heard tales of how humans with piercing weapons had captured many of their clan, and taken them away for their amusement. It was pathetic to be a captive to the Humans – they ensured that a dragon’s spirit is broken.
The teachers did not know what to do, the students were asked to camouflage themselves and stop breathing so that fire emissions did not give them away.
Nearer, and nearer came the Humans, further and further shrank the dragons. Until they had reached the river bank and there was no place to escape. Captivity seemed certain. Some of the students whispered that they would rather jump into the river and end their lives than be caught by the humans.
Suddenly Smiley stood up. His belly was burning, his head humming, his heart beat louder than a hundred drums. He just knew what he had to do. The teachers tried to stop him, but to no avail. Smiley rushed forward, and climbed up the little hillock. He could see the Humans, and that suited his purpose. He started emitting smoke. Thick, white smoke. Next came a wave of black, acrid smoke. Soon the place was invisible. Nothing could be seen or smelt, apart from the acridness of the smoke. Smiley felt he could go on doing this forever. Strange he thought how his belly was filled with fire, he could feel it, but his emissions were smoke…..smoke, oh beautiful smoke, saviour smoke.
After an eternity, Smiley dared to stop. Nothing moved, the entire place was deserted. Smiley gingerly hopped down the cliff, and crept to the river bank where all his friends were hiding. He felt some dragon figures, and lay down quietly by them. It was hours before the smoke lifted a little. The teachers cautiously started rounding up the shell shocked students.
No Human sounds were audible. Slowly the dragons made their way back to their homes. When they reached the den, they found all the anxious parents huddled, most of the mothers had red eyes.
And then suddenly hell broke loose, all were hugging Smiley at once, his school pals had already lifted him up, Wise One was struggling to make a speech, Volcano was smothering Smiley with loving saliva, Spitfire had his chest puffed out. The other adult dragons were tapping their feet and making a lot of din. Smiley had saved the clan, and that too without any fire, without any fight, just by his smoke.
Smiley just smiled at Wise One, and then created a halo smoke formation and sat quietly below it, looking pleased as a punch.
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